Modi tells Putin that today is ‘not an era of war’

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war” in a televised meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a regional summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

“We have spoken about this issue with you many times on the phone also,” Modi continued, stressing the importance of “democracy, diplomacy and dialogue.” He pointed to aid issues of food security, fuel security and fertilizers as the biggest concern today for the world, especially for developing countries.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit offered an opportunity for the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Putin acknowledged India’s concerns about the war in Ukraine. “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine and I know about your concerns. … We want all of this to end as soon as possible,” he told Modi in his opening remarks.

Modi expressed gratitude to both Russia and Ukraine for helping New Delhi evacuate thousands of Indian students from Ukraine early in the conflict.

On a lighter note, Putin said he was aware that his “dear friend” Modi would celebrate his 72nd birthday on Saturday but could not wish him one right now, as Russian tradition is not to offer congratulations in advance. “But I would like you to know that we know about that, and we wish you all the best,” he said.

Modi later tweeted that he had “a wonderful meeting” with Putin. “We got the opportunity to discuss furthering India-Russia cooperation in sectors such as trade, energy, defense and more,” Modi wrote, adding that they also discussed other bilateral and global issues.

Earlier, on Thursday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing in New Delhi that his country’s purchase of Russian oil was aimed at addressing energy security requirements. He was responding to a question on whether Russia was offering deeper discounts on its oil as an inducement for India not to join the Group of Seven countries’ plan to impose a price cap on its crude.

“India is not a member of the G-7, just for record purposes,” Kwatra pointed out.

“Deeper discounts, market pricing — look, we have said this several times … that when the Indian entities go out and try to respond to India’s needs of the energy security and procure oil, they essentially procure it from the market,” he said.

“These are not government-to-government purchases,” Kwatra said. On the price cap coalition, “what form it takes, what shape it evolves into is something I think which … the people, the countries that have floated that idea, perhaps can better answer to that.”

On Friday, Modi also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the SCO summit as a special guest. The two leaders “reviewed the full range of bilateral relations between India and Turkey including ways to deepen economic linkages for the benefit of our people,” the Indian prime minister tweeted after the meeting.

In addition, the Indian leader held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with the two leaders touching on trade, economic cooperation and connectivity. They also discussed Afghanistan and were “unanimous in their view that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used for terrorist activities,” an Indian government statement said.

Modi called on the regional grouping with China and Russia to strengthen supply chains amid a flurry of meetings and speeches by leaders including Xi Jinping and Putin.

As energy and food crises spread, Modi urged the SCO to develop “reliable, resilient and diversified” supply chains to address the challenges.

“This will require better connectivity, as well as it will be important that we all give each other full right to transit,” he told the SCO summit.

Apart from India, China and Russia, the economic and security group includes Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran this week signed a memorandum toward officially joining.

China’s Xi, who met with Russia’s Putin on the sidelines on Thursday, called on the participants to work together to prevent “color revolutions” instigated by foreign powers, according to Reuters. He also pledged that China would train 2,000 law enforcement personnel from the members over the next five years, the report said.

The SCO was formed in 2001, initially to battle extremist ideology and terrorism in Central Asia. Its purpose has since expanded to economic cooperation. But many also see it as a challenge to the Western-led order and institutions. Putin, in remarks on Friday, seemed to allude to this when he said, “The joint work of SCO member states is particularly based on those principles free of any elements of egoism both in politics and economy,” according to Russia’s Tass state news service.

For Modi and Xi, the summit brought them face to face for the first time since the bloody hand-to-hand border clash between troops from the two countries in June 2020. The fighting in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead, leading to an escalation in tensions between the neighbors.

Earlier this week, Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement from a friction point along the disputed Himalayan border. However, as the last day of the summit wore on, it was still not clear whether Modi and Xi would hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines, which many observers had expected.

Like China, India has also not explicitly condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and has instead called for dialogue to end the crisis. India and Russia are traditional allies with much of New Delhi’s weaponry coming from Moscow.

Meanwhile, in his address in Hindi, Modi also spoke about the need for greater cooperation among SCO member states in the fields of traditional medicine, startups and innovation, and ensuring food security by promoting cultivation and consumption of “superfood” millet.

He said that progress is being made toward making India a manufacturing hub, and that the South Asian country is expected to grow 7.5% this year, “which will be the highest among the world’s largest economies.”

(NIKKEI ASIA)